The old lane was little used and nature grew wild. Trees blocked out most of the light expect in winter, when weak patches highlighted the ground.

For me, it was the perfect hiding spot. I pulled over the car but kept the engine running and got out. I gripped a shovel then the metal box which was super heavy. I dug the hole quickly, lowered the box in and covered it over.

The night sky was awash with bright white dots of stars which shone down on an abandoned town nested in tall hills which helped to further block light pollution from the surrounding alive towns that were miles away.

This place, in Kenize’s and Brock’s opinions, was the best to see this formation of stars at this time of year, even though the abandoned town was eerie and Kenize was sure the other night, she had heard little girl singing and playing skipping rope.

With stars to concentrate on, there was no time for ghost hunting, but Kenize still couldn’t shake the feeling that they were not alone in the abandoned town, something was watching them work, something that wasn’t going to let them leave, ever.

At the end of the war, Mario was the only one in the Italian mountain village to have a radio. When bad weather was coming, be it heavy rain or snow, he would let everyone else know by keeping his outside lamp lit at all times.

Bed was the only place for my body whilst my mind had vacated to somewhere else. Sneezing and coughing, my throat felt like I had eaten a cacti and my chest wheezing with pain. Sleep came slowly and wasn’t restful at all. The bugs were here to stay.

The up keep had become too much on the old place. The roof was holey, letting the wind and rain inside to play. The wood groaned with bugs, causing the house to shift around. Windows cracked, doors left hinges, floors humped, walls bulged, ceilings dripped and inhabitable called.

People moved out, but nothing could be done with the place. Nobody would buy the house, not even for the land because there were documents and protections on things. So everything was left to to sit. Time and nature were allowed to do their own things to the place, no cares given.

I had been sick with the flu on New Year’s Eve, so I didn’t celebrate. In fact, it wasn’t until Friday 11th Jan that I was feeling well again. Despite not feeling in the mood for it, my housemates threw a party – New Year’s take two, they said.

Laughing, I joined in with the singing and dancing. I drink not too much and didn’t snack either. Someone put a recording of London celebrating New Year on the TV. We couldn’t down midnight and welcomed 2019 in.

Then we crowed in the small garden and let off some fireworks. The colours were so bright against the dark, foggy sky. The whizzing and bangs so loud as no one else was celebrating.

Chilled by the coming frost, we warmed inside with more dancing and hot corn beef hash. People started leaving then, a few helping to tidy before doing so. I was in bed before the last guests left, tried out by everything.

Even though my new year hadn’t gotten off to the best of starts, I wanted to make the second take really did.

Ghosts have been a normal part of my life since I was born but it’s a secret as no one else can understand and they’d think me crazy.

Sometimes, I try to help the ghosts to move on and other times I leave them be, as in the case of the brother and sister on the beach, who I think drowned, they refused to believe they were dead or needed help.

I felt sad leaving them as the setting sun turned the sea golden but there wasn’t much else I could do when they didn’t want to go.